Dallas, TX (PRWEB) May 3, 2004--A Mothers CharmTM (AMC), a Dallas based jewelry designer for moms and adoption advocate, and DFW Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption (FRUA), the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the national adoptive family support group, are combining their efforts and expertise to host The Adoption Journey" on November 7, 2004. The Adoption Journey is planned to be the information and connection event for pre-adoptive and post-adoptive families.
The hosts are currently looking for an additional expert host partner specializing in Domestic Adoption to round out the expertise in creating this event. The Adoption Journey is planned to be the most comprehensive educational event ever offered in the USA.
The Convention Center in Grapevine (in the Dallas-Fort Worth area) has been chosen as the venue. The event will be free and open to the public from 11am - 5pm. There will be a large number of information booths managed by adoption agencies, support groups, adoption attorneys, medical experts, speech therapists, sensory integration experts, CPAs, tax specialists, grant, loan and investment financial advisors. Families with a variety of experiences and backgrounds will man a set of Q&A booths for attendees.
Expert speakers will be holding sessions on domestic and international adoption topics for pre- and post-adoptive families. Pre-adoptive session topics will include Affording Adoption (Lifestyle Changes, Raising Funds, Loans/Grants, Taxes and Benefits), Adoption Process Tips, Special Circumstances (multiples, special needs, etc.), Interviewing Agencies and Attorneys. Post-adoptive sessions will cover Legal issues (Re-adoption, Recognition, Certificate of Citizenship, etc.), Tax Options, Recognizing the Need for Therapies, Birth Family Opportunities and Cultural Enrichment.
Both host organizations are comprised of adoptive parents. Each has a desire to help orphaned children find loving homes. The hosts have decided to feature an orphan care charity at the event. Shoes for Orphan Souls (SFOS) will have a collection booth at the event to collect shoes to be delivered to orphans in the USA and all over the world. The greatest shoe need is for adult sizes 3-9 (particularly tennis shoes and boots) for older orphaned children.
About A Mothers CharmTM
Two mothers, Ruth Ellen Heaton and Kari Hunt, who met in the process of adopting their respective sons in 2001, founded A Mothers CharmTM in September of 2002. Their boys had been good friends living in the same orphanage in Russia. Relishing the firsts" and other special moments with their newly expanded families, these career women and new mothers, who have a passion for philanthropy, decided to make another life altering change. They created a business that would provide mothers, especially adoptive mothers, a way to capture and converse about some of their precious motherhood moments, and make a difference in the world around them.
Utilizing the web, A Mothers CharmTM (AMC - www.motherscharm.com) is building a sense of community and charity. Ten percent of AMC profits are donated to Buckner Orphan Care International, an organization that provides humanitarian aid to children globally. Additionally, the majority of profits generated by the Shoes Around the World charm line are donated to Shoes for Orphan Souls.
In Summer 2003 and January 2004, A Mothers CharmTM designed and produced two major events on the topic of affording adoption. These free and open to the public events drew agencies and organizations from across the USA. Experts and adoptive families presented seminar sessions concurrent with agencies and organizations hosting information booths. The topics covered in depth information on taxes, loans/grants, agency assistance and family experiences with affording adoption. Attendees traveled from all over Texas and from surrounding states. Requests for this comprehensive package of information came from across the country prompting the AMC founders to pen the book You Can Afford Adoption.
About FRUA
Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption (FRUA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit support group of volunteer adoptive families working for adoptive families with children from the former Soviet Union during all stages of adoption. FRUA has chapters throughout the USA. The FRUA mission is education, networking and orphanage support, as well as celebrating the joys and challenges of adoption.
FRUA is not an adoption agency. FRUA offers a network of adoptive family support, cultural and ethnic events, newsletters and a lecture series. FRUA also offers a forum for advocating adoption.
FRUAs orphanage support program raises funds to install playgrounds in Russia and Romania. FRUA also runs a Grow Bag program that utilizes families who are traveling to adopt. Donated goods (new or like-new children's clothing and shoes; pediatric over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and hygiene items; and developmental toys) are carried by the adopting families to orphanages under the FRUA name. DFW FRUA specifically raises funds to pay the salary of a nurse in Russia whose main duty is to play grandmother" - holding and loving all the children who live there.
DFW FRUA, for the past three years, has successfully produced the DFW International Adoption Fair (IAF). The IAF included agency and support group information booths and multiple expert speakers on a variety of pre- and post- international adoptive family topics. This free event welcomed attendees from across the DFW area.
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